Residual Currents Induced by Asymmetric Tidal Mixing in Weakly Stratified Narrow Estuaries

Abstract Residual currents induced by asymmetric tidal mixing were examined for weakly stratified, narrow estuaries using analytical and numerical models. The analytical model is an extension of the work of R. K. McCarthy, with the addition of tidal variations of the vertical eddy viscosity in the longitudinal momentum equation. The longitudinal distribution of residual flows driven by asymmetric tidal mixing is determined by the tidal current amplitude and by asymmetries in tidal mixing between flood and ebb. In a long channel, the magnitude of the residual flow induced by asymmetric tidal mixing is maximum at the estuary mouth and decreases upstream following the longitudinal distribution of tidal current amplitude. Larger asymmetry in tidal mixing between flood and ebb produces stronger residual currents. For typical tidal asymmetry, mixing is stronger during flood than during ebb and results in two-layer residual currents with seaward flow near the surface and landward flow near the bottom. For revers...

[1]  A. Valle‐Levinson,et al.  Influence of Lateral Advection on Residual Currents in Microtidal Estuaries , 2009 .

[2]  R. Chant,et al.  Modeling Influence of Stratification on Lateral Circulation in a Stratified Estuary , 2009 .

[3]  C. Friedrichs,et al.  Analytical study of the transverse distribution of along-channel and transverse residual flows in tidal estuaries , 2009 .

[4]  W. Geyer,et al.  The influence of lateral advection on the residual estuarine circulation : a numerical modeling study of the Hudson River Estuary , 2009 .

[5]  F. Chow,et al.  Role of tidally periodic density stratification in the creation of estuarine subtidal circulation , 2008 .

[6]  W. Geyer,et al.  Subtidal Salinity and Velocity in the Hudson River Estuary: Observations and Modeling , 2008 .

[7]  Ming Li,et al.  Asymmetric Tidal Mixing due to the Horizontal Density Gradient , 2008 .

[8]  M. Stacey,et al.  Dispersive fluxes between the coastal ocean and a semienclosed estuarine basin , 2007 .

[9]  C. Friedrichs,et al.  The Importance of Tidal and Lateral Asymmetries in Stratification to Residual Circulation in Partially Mixed Estuaries , 2007 .

[10]  C. Friedrichs,et al.  Lateral dynamics and associated transport of sediment in the upper reaches of a partially mixed estuary, Chesapeake Bay, USA , 2007 .

[11]  L. Brasseur,et al.  The impact of tidal straining on the cycle of turbulence in a partially stratified estuary , 2005 .

[12]  M. Stacey,et al.  The Scaling and Structure of the Estuarine Bottom Boundary Layer , 2005 .

[13]  R. Hetland,et al.  An Idealized Study of the Structure of Long, Partially Mixed Estuaries* , 2004 .

[14]  P. MacCready,et al.  Toward a unified theory of tidally-averaged estuarine salinity structure , 2004 .

[15]  S. Monismith,et al.  Interaction of lateral baroclinic forcing and turbulence in an estuary , 2003 .

[16]  J. Simpson,et al.  The semi-diurnal cycle of dissipation in a ROFI: model-measurement comparisons , 2002 .

[17]  S. Monismith,et al.  Creation of residual flows in a partially stratified estuary , 2001 .

[18]  Alexander F. Shchepetkin,et al.  Model evaluation experiments in the North Atlantic Basin : simulations in nonlinear terrain-following coordinates , 2000 .

[19]  H. Nepf,et al.  Intratidal variations in stratification and mixing in the Hudson estuary , 1996 .

[20]  R. Mccarthy.  Residual currents in tidally dominated, well‐mixed estuaries , 1993 .

[21]  J. Matthews,et al.  Tidal straining, density currents, and stirring in the control of estuarine stratification , 1990 .

[22]  J. Smith,et al.  Residual circulation in shallow estuaries: 2. Weakly stratified and partially mixed, narrow estuaries , 1990 .

[23]  J. Ianniello.  Comments on Tidally Induced Residual Currents in Estuaries: Dynamics and Near-Bottom Flow Characteristics , 1981 .

[24]  J. Ianniello.  Tidally Induced Residual Currents in Estuaries of Variable Breadth and Depth , 1979 .

[25]  F. Kestner,et al.  Physical oceanography of estuaries (and associated coastal waters) , 1977 .

[26]  P. Chatwin.  Some remarks on the maintenance of the salinity distribution in estuaries , 1976 .

[27]  E. F. Bradley,et al.  Flux-Profile Relationships in the Atmospheric Surface Layer , 1971 .